Drapery marking method utilizing invisible dyes

ABSTRACT

A drapery or curtain is hung from an adjustable frame so that it hangs freely in a similar manner to its intended use. One or more dye squirting orifices or nozzles traverse the width of the drapery at predetermined heights to mark cut-off or fold lines on the drapery and/or lining. The dye may be invisible as applied on the drapery and may become visible only when exposed to light of a predetermined wavelength for subsequent cutting, folding or sewing of the drapery. The orifice may be a hypodermic neddle which provides a very thin continuous unbroken liquid stream or jet that marks the line on the drapery.

United States Patent Sumner et al.

[ Sept. 24, 1974 DRAPERY MARKING METHOD UTILIZING INVISIBLE DYESInventors: Paul E. Sumner, 1009 Lanette Dr.,

Cincinnati, Ohio 45230; Joseph E. Peter, Cincinnati, Ohio Assignee: saidSumner, by said Peter Filed: Dec. 14, 1972 Appl. No.: 315,179

Related US. Application Data Division of Ser. No. 106,975, Jan. 18,1971, Pat. No. 3,749,051.

US. Cl 117/37 R, 8/2, 8/164, 26/5l.5, 117/33.5 T, 117/44 Int. Cl BOSb17/00 Field of Search 117/37 R, 43, 44, 33.5 T; 8/2, 164; 26/515References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1953 Tuttle et a1. 26/5153,688,804 9/1972 Brown et al. 139/1 Primary ExaminerHerbert B. GuynnAssistant ExaminerBruce H. Hess Attorney, Agent, or FirmWo0d, Herron &Evans [57] ABSTRACT A drapery or curtain is hung from an adjustableframe so that it hangs freely in a similar manner to its intended use.One or more dye squirting orifices or nozzles traverse the width of thedrapery at predetermined heights to mark cut-off or fold lines on thedrapery and/or lining, The dye may be invisible as applied on thedrapery and may become visible only when exposed to light of apredetermined wavelength for subsequent cutting, folding or sewing ofthe drapery. The orifice may be a hypodermic neddle which provides avery thin continuous unbroken liquid stream or jet that marks the lineon the drapery.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures DRAPERY MARKING METHOD UTILIZING INVISIBLEDYES This is a division, of application Ser. No. 106,975, filed Jan. 18,1971, now US. Pat. No. 3,749,051, issued July 31, 1973.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION This invention relates to a method and apparatusfor accurately marking critical lengths of drapery and curtain material,and more particularly to a method and and apparatus for evenly markingthe cutoff length and/or the hem or fold length thereon.

A most important and difficult problem in the custom manufacture ofdraperies or curtains is the need to maintain a very even or straightbottom edge or hem line. In drapery or curtain panels wherein the hemhas been unevenly folded and sewn over, a scalloped" edge with high andlow areas results. An uneven edge is unattractive, and low areas maydrag the floor or sill, causing wear of the dragging material and anaccumulation of dirt. The high areas unevenly expose wall, floor, orother areas which should be covered, and render the whole draperyvisually inappropriate. It has been observed that an uneven hem can makean otherwise well-made and expensive drapery or curtain very unappealingand apparently of poor quality.

Moreover, where a lining is used, and the drapery or curtain is of amaterial wherein some backlight may be seen through it, the lining toomust be evenly cut, folded and sewn, or its uneveness may be visible,further rendering the visual effect of the drapery unappealing.

Several attempts have been made at providing apparatus which will sizeor provide means to evenly hem a drapery. In one such device, thedrapery is laid out on a horizontal table and a tabling machine ismovable over the table to the desired length of the drapery. The tablingmachine includes grips which hold the edge of the drapery while it ismarked or cut. One disadvantage to that device is that it may andusually does stretch the drapery unevenly during marking, and uponrelease this leads to uneveness of the final product. Anotherdisadvantage is that considerable operators time is required to grip andstretch the drapery as uniformly as possible, and to hold it asuniformly as possible during' marking. Each line must be drawnseparately as by chalk. It is thus difficult, with such a device, toquickly or consistently achieve a set predetermined length of thedrapery and to achieve an even hem. Where the drapery is held only atintermittent points, the uneven stretching effect is even greater andthe resulting hem generally varies more significantly from the desiredeven fold.

In another device, the drapery is hung from a frame and an operatormarks thereon with a hand held and operated marking device. This too hasseveral disadvantages. It is difficult for the operator to evenly markthe drapery as it hangs in folds. For instance, when a fold isstraightened for marking, or when the usual chalk line is drawn acrossthe material, this may result in stretching of the material and theedge, though straight when drawn, may scallop when tension is released.The resulting hem may be rendered uneven. Each line on the drapery andon the lining must be separately drawn. Another disadvantage to suchapparatus is that the marking device leaves a visible mark on thematerial and care must be taken to assure that it is removed, or atleast that it is not visible on the finished product.

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for veryaccurately marking a hem fold line and/or a cut-off line on the draperyand simultaneously on any lining if one is used. Briefly, the inventionincludes a frame from which the drapery is hung. The frame is raised sothat the drapery hangs at its desired length relative to a markingcarriage. The carriage, which may be reciprocable across the bottom ofthe frame, is movably mounted so that it can traverse a desired straightpath across (but spaced from) the width of the drapery. The carriagepreferably includes two upstanding arms, each fitted with two dyesquirting orifices or nozzles, which are independently adjustable in avertical direction. One arm is positioned on one side or surface (i.e.,the front) of the hanging drapery and another arrri is positioned on theother or back side. Each nozzle is actuable to discharge a tine orneedle-like liquid stream orjet of dye marking material. As used herein,the term dye" is used broadly to mean liquid materials capable ofpermanently or temporarily marking the particular drapery material inuse. The dye may be a true textile dye, or it may be an ink or coloredfluid or a fluorescing material. The dye is preferably of the type whichas applied to the drapery is invisible to the human eye under ordinarylighting conditions, and which fluoresces when exposed to light of apredetermined wavelength such as an ultraviolet light. Formulations ofsuch marking fluids are well known and do not form this invention.

In operation, each nozzle is positioned at a predetermined positionrelative to the drapery, corresponding to a desired drapery length orhem position. The drapery preferably has its upper hanging attachmentsor clips in place, and hangs therefrom as it will hang in use. A lowernozzle in front of the drapery is positioned at proper height formarking a cut-off line on the drapery, and a higher nozzle is positionedto mark a hem fold line. If a lining is used, two nozzles on a rearupstanding arm may be adjusted in like manner to mark desired cut-offand hem fold lines on the lining. The carriage member on which thenozzles and arms are mounted is then moved across the width of thedrapery, and the nozzles squirt very narrow high velocity streams of dyeonto the drapery at the desired heights. The carriage may be motorized,rapidly driven, and may traverse the entire width of a ten foot widedrapery panel, for example, in less than about 3 seconds. Since all four(or even more) lines are made simultaneously it can be seen that thismethod is far faster than previous hand line drawing operations, and ismore accurate as well in eliminating improper marking as a cause ofscalloping. Since the drapery is hanging in folds, the

' stream may hit only certain exposed areas, leaving a broken orinterrupted line, but which line is nonetheless accurate and sufficientfor folding and cutting purposes. When the drapery is removed from theframe and placed on a table surface for cutting, folding or sewing, anultraviolet light may be directed on the dye marked areas to render themarked lines visible. The markings are continuous or broken but aresufficiently frequent to give a cutter a good line to work to as he cutsthe drapery off and then folds the material in along the hem or foldline to be sewn.

It has thus been one object of the present invention to provide animproved apparatus and method for evenly and rapidly marking lines ondraperies or curtains.

Another object of the invention has been to provide apparatus formarking lines on draperies or curtains which are invisible to the eyeunder ordinary lighting conditions, yet which become visible under lightof a predetermined wavelength.

Another object of the invention has been to provide a sizing or markingapparatus which evenly marks lines on a drapery or curtain while thelatter hangs freely without any unnatural stretching.

Another and highly important object of the invention has been to providea method for evenly marking lines on a drapery or curtain while thelatter is positioned as it will be later hung and used.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become morereadily apparent from the following detailed description of theinvention and the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred form of apparatus inaccordance with the invention,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the marking apparatus and carriage,

FIG. 3 is a front elevation, partially broken away, of the apparatusshown in FIG. 1, and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the dye squirting orifice or nozzle.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, the sizing or marking apparatus ofthe present invention is shown generally at 10. The apparatus includes aframe-like structure with two upstanding ways 1 l and 12 and a top crosspiece 13. A movable hanger bar 14 is mounted for vertical movementbetween ways 11 and 12. Hanger bar 14 is provided with rod 15 forhanging the drapery or curtain material 16 thereon by means ofconventional hangers 17. Rod 15 may be a conventional traverse ordrapery rod. The material 16 may be partially made up, and may include alining.

Referring to FIG. 3, bar 14 is mounted with its ends received in the Uor C shaped ways 1 1 and 12 with each end carried on endless chains 18and 19 respectively. A hanger bar elevating drive shaft 20 is journalledat 21 and 22 and chain drive sprockets 23 and 24 are mounted on shaft20. A reversible motor means 25 is provided for rotating shaft 20,thereby turning sprockets 23 and 24. Chains l8 and 19 pass around upperidler sprockets 26 and 27 respectively. Bar 14 is connected to chains 18and 19 at its ends, and is elevated or lowered depending upon thedirection of rotation of motor 25. It is to be understood that motormeans 25 may be provided with controls, well known to those of ordinaryskill in the art, so that chains 18 and 19 and the bar 14 can be movedthrough any desired increment in a vertical direction. This raising orlowering of bar 14 permits drapery 16 to be held according to itsdesired length. Driving both ends of bar 14 is preferable because itnegates any binding, cocking, or height variation of one end of bar 14with respect to the other so that the top of drapery 16 is held in aneven, horizontal position at all times as it is raised or lowered.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the dye marking apparatus is shown generallyat 30. The stream projecting nozzles 31-34 are mounted on upstandingsupport arms 35 and 36 as best seen in FIG. 2. The nozzles may beadjusted vertically to a desired height by movement in slots 37 and 38,respectively. Such adjustment may be made by loosening nuts 39. Nozzle31 may be mounted upon plate 40, which is adjustably mounted in slot 38in a known manner so as to enable it to be positioned above nozzle 34when nozzle 34 is in its highest posi tion, as will later be explained.

Upstanding arms 35 and 36 are mounted perpendicularly to a crosspiece 41which in turn is mounted on a movable or linearly reciprocating carriagemember 42. Carriage member 42 is mounted so that it can traverse thewidth of a hanging drapery along a straight guide 43.

Traverse motion of member 42 and dye marking apparatus 30 across drapery16 is achieved by a chain drive. Sprockets 44 and 45 are mounted forrotation to drive chain 46. A link 47 is connected between chain 46 andto member 42. A motor means. conventional to the art and not shown. isprovided to drive one of the sprockets 44. 45. The driver sprocketdrives the chain 46 and member 42 moves with the chain due to link 47.As member 42 moves. for instance in a direction of arrow A in FIG. 3, itapproaches sprocket 45. Limit switches may be provided in a motorcontrol circuit for stopping the motor or for reversing its direction.so that member 42 is stopped or reversed to return to its startingposition, when it nears sprocket 45, and to deenergize the motor whenthe carriage is at starting position. Ordinarily. one traverse of thedye projecting nozzles across the drapery 16 is sufficient to mark it,however. a number of passes may be used if desired. Roller 28 andanother roller (not shown) may be provided on carriage member 42 tocontact support beam 29 in order to prevent any canting of member 42.

Other elements of the dye spraying apparatus 30 are also seen in FIG. 1.A cylinder 48 of pressurized gas (which may be a standard compressed airunit developing 40 PS1 pressure) is provided for pressurizing a dyecontaining tank 49. Dye is thus urged under pressure into tube coil 50through tube 51. The filters 52 and 53 are provided as will be laterexplained. Dye is urged under pressure through coil 50 into a manifoldlocated on member 42. This manifold contains valve means. well known inthe art which may selectively control the dye flow to the nozzles. Itcan be seen that as carriage member 42 is driven along guide 43, coil 50is free to expand or contract and thus dye may be continuously suppliedto nozzles 31-34. Coil 50 may ride on a supporting line 54. Lines 55-58supply dye from the manifold to nozzles 31-34 respectively. It is to benoted that cylinder 48 and tank 49, and the filters 52 and 53, remain ina generally stationary position, however the whole dye supply system canbe mounted on the carriage for movement therewith if desired.

Preferably a solenoid actuated valve responsive to the position of thecarriage on guide 43 starts projection of the dye stream just beforecarriage member 42 begins its traverse of the curtain and endprojections of the stream after the carriage completes its traverse.This insures that an even line will be made on the material with nostreaking as might happen if the stream were commenced when a nozzle wasoperatively adjacent the material or in traverse across it.

Guide lines 59 and 60 are strung tautly between arms 61 and 62 which aremounted on ways 11 and 12 respectively. These lines are positioned so asto confine the drapery 16 in order to keep it hanging straight down fromrod 15, and to prevent it from actually contacting a nozzle 31-34. Theguides tend to maintain the material in a predetermined distance rangefrom the nozzles. This provides greater line marking accuracy.

The actual dye projecting nozzle is shown in FIG. 4, it being understoodthat each nozzle may be similar. It is very desirable to maintain a verythin needle-like unbroken stream or jet of dye in order to make a narrowline on drapery 16 along which a cut or fold is to be made. A finelineless than about three-sixteenths inch widthpermits better cuttingand folding accuracy. Furthermore, a smaller amount of dye is used in athinner stream.

To accomplish the squirting or spraying of a very thin stream of dye, ahypodermic type needle 63 is provided. This needle may be ofconventional type, but is preferably of the smallest bore diametercommercially available (e.g., a No. needle). I have discovered that theliquid stream squirted from such a needle displays remarkably littletendency to spread or widen between the needle and the drapery incomparison to an atomized or droplet type stream. Dye is providedthrough lines 55-58, under pressure, to this needle which projects avery fine stream of dye, to the cloth without any physical contact(other than by the dye stream) of the drapery. Since the stream is veryfine due to the small bore diameter of the needle, progressively finerfilters 52 and 53 are provided in line 51 to remove any object which maytend to clog the bore of the needles. The final filter is preferably aone micron pore size fil ter, e.g., of Micro-Klean type.

A shroud or housing 64 is provided around the hypodermic needle 63 inorder to protect it and to give it stability. The needle 63 may beconnected to its respective supply line by connector 65 in aconventional manner and the whole nozzle apparatus is connected to itsrespective upstanding arm or 36 as previously mentioned.

It will be appreciated that the controls of the drive for verticallymoving the bar 14, for horizontally moving the carriage member 42 anddye marking apparatus 30, and the valves for controlling the selectiveprojection of the dye as well as its starting and stopping are all knownto those of ordinary skill in the art and any control or valve which maybe found suitable can be used. It is desirable to provide a speedcontrol to adjust the rate of traverse of carriage 42. This is usefulbecause a given quantity of dye will tend to spread laterally on somedrapery materials than on others. By increasing carriage speed, thequality of dye per unit line length is reduced, and a sharper moreprecise line is obtained. The vertical movement of bar 14 should becontrollable to permit inching and the movement of carriage 42 should becontrolled for automatic spray shut off on return carriage motion.

The actual dye used may be any fluid known to those of skill in the artwhich is not harmful to the drapery or curtain material. It shouldpreferably be invisible to the eye under ordinary lightingcircumstances, but which become visible upon application of a light of apredetermined wavelength, such as an ultraviolet light, generally shownat 66. Of course, a visible dye may be used, however it would generallyrequire concealment or removal as regards the finished product.

A table 67 may be provided upon which to position the drapery underlight 66 after marking so that the marked lines may be seen and theappropriate cuts or folds may be made by an operation.

The operation of the invention may best be followed by reference toFIG. 1. Bar 14 is lowered and drapery material 16 to be cut and hemmed,is attached to rod 15 by hangers 17. A control is actuated and motor 25turns shaft 20 which drives sprockets 23 and 24, chains 18 and 19 andthus bar 14 in an upward direction. Bar 14 is raised until drapery l6hangs freely, and its lower end is positioned between guide lines 59 and60.

The nozzles then are set to mark the desired length. Normally this isstandard for a 4 inch hem line. Bar 14 is raised to a heightcorresponding to the desired finished length of the drapery above theline to be drawn by nozzle 34. Nozzle 33 may be adjusted to mark thedesired cut-off line. It will be noted that the drapery will be foldedalong the line which is marked by nozzle 34 and will be cut off alongthe line marked by nozzle 33. Since the distance between nozzles 34 and33 is usually a standard dimension, once those nozzles have initiallybeen adjusted with respect to each other to set the hem width, bar 14may be raised or lowered to adjust the length to which the drapery willbe hemmed. For the most efficient operation, draperies are precut to alength which will allow them to hang freely between guides 59, 60 frombar 14 when the bar is at a position corresponding to the proper draperylength. If the draperies are too long, they can be precut to a lengthslightly over the desired cut-off length so that they can hang freely.

To facilitate the proper positioning of drapery 16 by movement of bar14, a tape measure may be mounted on either of the upstanding ways 11,12. The steel tape is a common retractable tape measure with a housing71. End 72 of tape 70 is connected to the drapery supporting rod 15 at apoint even with the top of a drapery 16. As bar 14 and thus supportingrod 15 move in an upwardly direction, the tape 70 is pulled from itshousing and the length of the drape can be read directly from the tape.Tape housing 71 is advantageously located below nozzle 34 in order tomeasure the length of the drapery 16 from its top to its hemline.

If a lining is to be used, nozzles 31 and 32 are adjusted accordingly.Nozzle 31 is set to mark the hemmed length and nozzle 32 to mark thecut-off line of the lining. It will be noted that the drawings depictnozzle 31 to be generally higher than nozzle 34, thus rendering thehemline of the lining above the hemline of the drapery as will generallybe desired. If no lining is used in the drapery being marked, nozzles 31and 32 may be selectively cut off by conventional valve means asdescribed above.

When the bar 14 and the nozzles are properly adjusted, dye projectingapparatus 30 is actuated to traverse the hanging drapery and to squirt avery thin stream of dye onto the drapery. This thin stream defines aninterrupted line across the material due to the folds which were notexposed to nozzles. The lines which are made on the exposed areas of thematerial are long enough and frequent enough to provide a line to workto, however, for cutting, folding or other operation. The lower orworking edge of the drapery can be placed on a surface such as table 67,while the drapery remains hanging on rod 15. An ultraviolet light, suchas the light 66, is positioned to cast its light onto the marked areasof the drapery so as to make the line visible to an operator who cutsalong the cut-off line and folds along the hem line so the hem can besewn in a conventional manner.

it will be readily appreciated that while the invention has beendescribed herein in preferred detail variations and modifications willbecome readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art withoutdeparting from the scope of this invention.

Having described the invention, we claim: 1. A method of marking a lineon drapery or curtain material comprising the steps of:

hanging the material from a frame so that the mate rial hangs freely infolds such as it will display in use, traversing the width of thematerial with dye stream projecting means and projecting a stream ofinvisible dye therefrom onto the material at predetermined position, thesaid means being moved along a straight line path 2. A method as inclaim 1 including the steps of: adjusting the frame vertically so as toadjust the material and thereby the position of the dye mark on thematerial.

2. A method as in claim 1 including the steps of: adjusting the framevertically so as to adjust the material and thereby the position of thedye mark on the material.